


Motherhood

by SkyFireForever



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Children, Dealing With Trauma, Fluff, Forgiveness, Gen, Kid Mechs, Mom Carmilla, Past Abuse, this is so self indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFireForever/pseuds/SkyFireForever
Summary: Doctor Carmilla makes her way back to the Mechanisms, only to find that they’ve all turned into young children.
Relationships: Dr Carmilla & The Mechanisms Ensemble
Comments: 7
Kudos: 51





	Motherhood

Carmilla had worked on herself. She really had. She’d recognized her mistakes and was ready to be a better person, a better mother. 

So she returned. She’d been tracking down the Aurora for quite awhile, following it from a distance. She was waiting for the right time to make her presence known. 

And then the Aurora was hit by a bright beam of light. Carmilla was nearly blinded by it, raising her hand to shield her eyes. But then, the light was gone as soon as it had appeared. 

Carmilla frowned, confused and more than a little frightened. Were the Mechanisms within the ship okay? Had the light hurt them in any way? 

She decided that she couldn’t just stand idly by and do nothing when those she thought of as her children could be hurt. 

She decided to make contact. 

She reached out through the radio, making contact with the Aurora.

“Aurora, darling?” She spoke calmly. “This is Doctor Carmilla requesting permission to board.” 

She wasn’t met with a response for a long while and she was beginning to doubt that the ship would respond. But the Aurora grew closer and opened her doors to allow Carmilla’s ship to dock. 

So that’s what Carmilla did. She docked her ship before boarding the Aurora, overwhelmed by how familiar she was. 

She placed a hand against the wall, feeling the gentle hum of machinery. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face. 

“It’s good to see you,” she said gently. 

The Aurora merely hummed, but something was off. She seemed distressed. 

“What’s wrong, darling?” Carmilla asked, concerned. “Did that light hurt you?” She felt rage boil inside of her. If whoever had fired that light had hurt her girl then so help her-

But she couldn’t focus on that. She only needed to worry about helping. She moved through the hallways, keeping one hand on the wall in an attempt to comfort the Aurora. She knew her way around so perfectly, even after all these years. 

She found herself in the common area and what she saw there took her quite by surprise. 

In the common area were children. Three of them. The eldest appearing to be no older than eleven. 

The eldest lounged on the couch, appearing almost bored as they watched the other two. 

The other two were young boys who were yelling at each other. One appeared barely older than a toddler, with short brown hair and wearing many belts. The other looked to be a bit older, with hair that was much longer. 

“No!” The younger one was shouting. 

“Yes!” Screamed the older boy. “It’s your fault!” 

“No! No! No! No!” The younger stomped his foot, screeching at the top of his lungs. 

Carmilla stood frozen in shock. She  _ recognized  _ these children, though she had never seen them at this age. No, she had known them as adults, or at least something close to it. 

“Jonny? Tim?” She took a step forward. Both boys turned to look at her. 

Jonny’s eyes widened. “Carmilla!” He shrieked, shying away from her. He moved closer to the couch, hiding his face in the arm of it, as though if he hid his face, she wouldn’t be able to see him. 

Tim looked at her. “What are you doing here?” He crossed his arms and made a face. “You’re not supposed to be here. It’s not allowed.” 

“I came to check on you,” she told both of them, her eyes falling on the young Ashes who remained on the couch. “I was worried about you.” She took a step closer. “What happened?”

“It’s Jonny’s fault!” Tim pointed an accusing finger at the other boy. “He did something!” 

“Did not!” Jonny argued. “Not my fault! You’re being mean!” 

Ashes sighed. “We don’t know whose fault it is,” they spoke up. “There was a light and then we were younger.” 

Carmilla nodded, thinking it over. So the bright light she had seen had turned the crew into children. Well, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, she supposed. 

“Well, come now. We must find the others.” She held out her hand to Jonny, who just crept away. He refused to look at her, still burying his face in the arm of the couch. 

She sighed and approached him. “Jonny, we have to find the other crew members and I don’t want to leave you unsupervised,” she told him gently. “Please come with me.” 

“I am supervised!” He argued, staring at his feet. “Ashes is here.” 

She considered, looking at Ashes. “Do you mind watching them for a little bit while I search for the others? I’ll be right back.” 

Ashes nodded. “I can do that.” 

“Perfect. Thank you.” 

She took off down the hallways once again, following the twists and turns. She made a quick stop by her lab to make sure everything was intact, but she paused when she saw something that surprised her. 

In her lab, there stood a little girl. One with blonde hair and a pair of wings. It caught Carmilla off guard to say the least. She didn’t recognize this child as a member of her former crew.

She slowly approached, watching as the girl struggled to reach all the beakers and bottles on the table before her. 

“Hello?” Carmilla spoke quietly, so as not to startle the child. 

The girl spun around in surprise, a smile quickly finding its way to her face. 

“Oh, hello!” She greeted, waving her little hand. 

Carmilla looked the child up and down before kneeling to her level. “And what’s your name?” 

“I’m Raphaella!” The child puffed out her chest, appearing to think herself very important. “Raphaella la Cognizi! Science officer of the starship Aurora!” Her voice held a confidence that only children could really have. 

Carmilla smiled fondly. “Raphaella,” she repeated. “That’s a beautiful name.” 

“I know!” 

“Well, Raphaella, how would you like to come with me to find the rest of the crew?” 

Raphaella considered a moment, her wings fluttering in concentration. She tapped her chin in a dramatic fashion, making herself appear to be thinking very hard. “Okay!” She agreed at last. 

Carmilla offered the young girl her hand, which she took. 

As the two of them made their way out of the lab, Carmilla couldn’t help but to think of how wrong it felt of the crew to have just given her lab away to someone new. The lab had been  _ hers,  _ had been very important to her. How could they just have someone new fill the role she left behind? 

Carmilla held Raphaella’s hand as they walked about the ship, leading her to find her friends. As they passed by the kitchens, Carmilla heard a noise. She paused and slowly approached the kitchens, making sure to position herself in front of the child she was protecting. 

She soon discovered the source of the noise, spotting a small figure standing on one of the counters and rifling through the cabinets. She cleared her throat and the figure spun around, revealing itself to be a young boy, peanut butter coating his face. 

He was another person that Carmilla did not recognize. He sat down on the counter, smacking his lips and using his tongue to try and unstick the peanut butter from the roof of his mouth. 

“Marius!” Raphaella exclaimed. 

“Marius?” Carmilla echoed, looking down at the girl. “You know him?” 

“Yeah! He’s my friend!” The blonde confirmed with a nod of her head. “He’s the doctor, but he’s not really a doctor.” 

“I am a doctor!” The boy - Marius - argued. “Just not medical!” 

Raphaella laughed. “Then you’re not really a doctor, silly!” 

Marius pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Carmilla shook her head. “Come along. We’re looking for the others. You can join us, okay?” 

“Okay!” The boy lit up and slid off of the counter, taking Carmilla’s free hand. 

She smiled, feeling off balance as she had to bend down slightly to hold Marius’ hand comfortably. She walked with them to the library, knowing that at least one of the crew would be there. 

She entered and immediately spotted a young Ivy laying on her back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Sitting on a chair beside her was a young Brian, a book laying open on his lap that he read aloud from. 

As Carmilla and the two children she entered with came in, Brian paused in his reading and looked up. 

Ivy immediately sat up and tugged on Brian’s sleeve. “Why did you stop?” She whined. “I wanna know what’s gonna happen!” 

Brian ignored her, closing the book and standing up. “Doctor Carmilla,” he spoke quietly, nervously. He sounded almost afraid. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came to see how my darlings are doing,” she answered. “And it’s a good thing too, considering that you have no adult supervision.” 

“We’re adults.” Brian seemed to think better of his statement. “Most of the time.” 

“But not now,” Carmilla pointed out. “Were you reading to Ivy?” She glanced at the book he had set down.

He nodded. “She can’t read on her own right now,” he informed her. “She’s too young.” 

Ivy pouted. “Which is unfair!” She crossed her little arms. “I wanna read!” 

Carmilla chuckled. “Why don’t you two come along with us to find Nastya and the Toy Soldier?” 

“But my book-”

“Will be there later. Come along.” 

Ivy pouted, but took Brian’s hand and the two of them followed Carmilla out of the library. 

Carmilla peeked through a few doorways in search of the last remaining crew members, but found nothing. She made her way to the engine room of the Aurora, finding exactly who she was looking for. 

A small Nastya was circling an unchanged Toy Soldier, poking at it. When Carmilla entered, the girl froze up completely. 

“Nastya.” Carmilla released Raphaella and Marius’ hands so she could scoop her child into a hug. “It’s so good to see you, my dear girl.” 

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Nastya wiggled out of Carmilla’s grasp. She looked around her to see the other crew members standing behind her. “Oh. So I’m not the only one who is like this.” 

“No, it appears that the entire crew has been de-aged for some reason,” Carmilla informed her. “It seems to have something to do with a beam of light that hit the Aurora.”

“Not the  _ entire _ crew,” Nastya corrected. “The Toy Soldier is completely the same.” 

Carmilla studied the Soldier, who saluted. “And so it is.” 

Nastya nodded, shuffling her feet and adjusting her glasses. 

Carmilla smiled. “Don’t worry, my dear. We will find a way to fix this,” she assured. “But for now, let’s get everyone together.” She offered her hand to the young girl. 

Nastya just nodded and walked past her. “Right. We’ll need to discuss what happened.” She ventured out into the hall, leaving Carmilla behind her. 


End file.
